The present invention relates to a device for mechanically transmitting torque from a motor to a power transmission, especially an elastic shaft coupling as a transfer coupling for a drive shaft, the device having a damping member comprised of at least one rubber ring and metal parts vulcanized thereto.
Elastic shaft couplings are used in stationary apparatus and in vehicles, for example marine vessels or rail vehicles. Especially in marine vessels it is obviously desirable to reduce noise levels resulting from sound generated by the diesel engine that is conducted through the solid body onto the hull of the marine vessel. In order to meet these requirements an elastic installation of drive units such as motors and of torque converters such as transmissions has been used. With the respective elements for an elastic installation, in the recent past have been embodied mostly as rubber-metal connections, a substantial improvement of the noise damping has been achieved.
In marine propulsion systems, during the transmission of the drive energy onto a propeller, a drive shaft with at least one universal joint has been used for compensating angular deviations along the transmission path, the drive shaft being in a mechanical connection with the propeller thrust bearing. Accordingly, the driving diesel engine is installed in a sound-insulating manner; however, via the thrust bearing motor sound may be transmitted unaltered into the hull of the marine vessel.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a device for torque transmission with favorable characteristics with respect to sound damping that also provides in all directions a center ring effect for attaching thereto a universal joint of a drive shaft without any mechanical support.